Brian Shenton

Medal record
Competitor for United Kingdom
Men’s Athletics
European Championships
Gold	Brussels 1950	200 m
Silver	Berne 1954	4x100 m Relay
Competitor for England
Commonwealth Games
Silver	Auckland 1950	4x110 yards Relay
Silver	Vancouver 1954	220 yards

Brian Shenton (15 March 1927 – 9 May 1987)was a track and field sprinter. Born in Doncaster from a working class background, he was a member of the Doncaster Plant Works Athletic Club, later having a successful career in the City and reaching the position of Chairman of Noble Lowndes. He died in a car crash soon after retirement.

Brian Shenton represented Great Britain in the men's 200 metres and men's 4x100 metres relay at two consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1952.

He won the gold medal at the 1950 European Athletics Championships in Brussels, Belgium in the men's 200 metres in a time of 21.5s as part of the British team that first topped the medal table with a medal count that would not be matched for a further 40 years . He won the silver medal at the 1954 European Championships in Berne, Switzerland in the men's 4x100 metres relay, alongside George Ellis, Kenneth Jones and Kenneth Box.

Representing England he won the silver medal at the 1950 British Empire Games in Auckland, New Zealand in the 4x110 yard relay and won an individual silver medal in the 220 yard dash at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, Canada.

Career

Brian Shenton came to public attention in 1950 with a series of good performances, culminating in a place at the European Championships as a replacement. Described as the "boy from nowhere", he set a new personal best in the semi-finals of 21.6s, in the finals beating off the challenge of Étienne Bally.

Controversy

In 1957 Brian Shenton was timed as having set the English 100 yards native record in a time of 9.7 seconds. However, this was disallowed following a ruling that he had had a "flier". Shenton appealed and received a personal hearing at the AAA.